Leading By Example

Well, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is at it again! No, he's not banning alcohol in the city (although I wouldn't blame you for thinking that after the cigarette and trans-fat bans). I'm referring to his his April 10th announcement that the city has completed and released its first comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions inventory.

Sure, climate change is a serious, planet-wide problem which requires federal and even international action. The problem is that this kind of comprehensive action just isn't happening yet. So Bloomberg has taken the unusual step of attempting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions generated in the City of New York. In other words, New York City is leading by example!

Read more about this announcement here; the detailed report is available here.

The Mayor intends to use this inventory to set goals for reducing emissions by
30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. It’s a good thing, too. New Yorkers live greener lives than the average American -- the study found that our emissions are 29 percent below those of our fellow citizens -- but we're still Americans. And according to the inventory, New York City’s emissions are as high as those of countries like Ireland and Portugal.

Clearly we have a long way to go to reducing our outsize carbon footprint on the global climate. This data is a good start towards figuring out how to fit into a smaller shoe.